He was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement during the First Wizarding War. He had a reputation for "fighting fire with fire," exhibiting the same sort of ruthlessness and brutality against criminals as some Death Eaters did against their victims. As he and his son were the last of the pure-blood Crouch family, it is virtually certain that he was the son of Caspar Crouch, by wife Charis Black. He was eventually killed by his Death Eater son, Barty Crouch Jr. , who despised him.